Public meeting in works as strutting peacocks have Surrey fretting
A muster of as many as 100 or more peacocks is continuing to ruffle feathers in the Surrey neighbourhood of Sullivan Heights.
The peacocks have grown into a jurisdictional headache for government officials. The City of Surrey says it has taken action against people feeding the feral peacocks, but legally, that’s about it.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have the authority nor are we the experts to capture them and relocate them,” said Jas Rehal, the manager of public safety responsible for bylaw enforcement.
In 2010, Surrey hired a local farmer as a contractor to trap the birds. At the time, it was estimated that there were between 12 and 35 peacocks in the neighbourhood.
Some neighbours, however, rallied in support of the birds, Rehal said. “In a nutshell, the farm operator who tried to trap them was chased out of there,” he said.
According to National Geographic, the blue peacocks in Surrey are native to India and Sri Lanka. The male is called a peacock and has a piercing call, dramatic plumage and a long tail; the female is called a peahen; together, they ’re known as peafowl. They have been kept as pets for thousands of years and have been used by many cultures as symbols of immortality, royalty, and creativity.
Peacocks aren’t a wild species such as bears, so they fall outside of the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Sustainability
“They’re in a grey area,” Rehal said.
Area resident Parm Brar said earlier that he had come to the end of his tether after dealing with the birds’ piercing calls and voluminous excrement for years. Without a permit, he cut down one of the trees where they roost on his property. He’s already been fined $1,000 and could face another $9,000 in fines.
“What is clear in the city of Surrey is that no one shall cut down a tree without a permit,” Rehal said. “It was a 100-year-old tree, a very healthy strong tree that was cut down without a permit and that’s unacceptable.”
Rehal said Surrey plans to bring the community together to develop a solution. He thinks that will happen sometime this month.
Trapping isn’t as easy as it sounds, he said. Peacocks are intelligent and require more than a couple of traps. Traps would also have to be placed in the yards of several area residents.
“We’ll have a forum to talk about their concerns and how to manage it and come up with a solution,” he said. “The thing is we need to find the right authority to deal with it. We also need full community support.”
Gail Wallin, executive director of the Invasive Species Council of B.C., describes peacocks as an introduced but not invasive species. An invasive species is defined as one that displaces a native species.
She said introduced species such as goldfish and pigs are often kept as pets and then released outside when people move or no longer want them. “Pets like peacocks can become feral,” she said.
In a temperate climate like Metro Vancouver, some introduced species such as peacocks can easily breed and reproduce. They weren’t a problem when there were one or two of them, but now that they’ve become an established species, it’s much more difficult to remove them. To start Invasive Species Action Month in May, the Invasive Species Council is focusing on an initiative called Invasive Animals: Don’t Let It Loose!
Wallin said that dealing with the problem starts with the public not releasing any pets outside. Take them back to where they were purchased. Or contact science centres or zoos if the animal can be used for educational purposes.
“If all else fails, have a qualified veterinarian euthanize the animal in a humane manner,” the ISCBC says. “It’s far kinder than letting it starve to death in the wild or destroy the homes of native animals and plants.”